Chapter Three
Disclaimer: I own nothing………..
Not until she was ten feet away, did she see that it wasn't James. It was Sirius. "Lily. You're soaking! You don't want to get pneumonia. Come under here." He pulled her under the umbrella. "Were you visiting him?" She nodded. "Lily, don't worry, things will get better. I promise…Now do you want to come back home with me? Everyone's been worried sick about you. Harry needs you. Come on."
They apparated back to Sirius and Lilac's house.
"Lily! Are you alright? Where were you?"
"Where do you think I was, and how do you think I am?"
"His grave, and as well as you can be under the circumstances?"
"Correct. Guys, it's really nice of you to let me stay with you. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"
"Lils don't worry. Think nothing of it. Do you want some hot cocoa?"
"Umm, okay?"
"Go get changed, put something warm on."
"Okay." Lily went up to the room that was 'hers'. She didn't know what to put on. Most everything she or James owned was gone. It was destroyed on Halloween. Sirius and Remus had gone to see if anything could be salvaged. They brought back two big boxes.
As Lily pawed through the boxes some things caught her eye. One of which was a picture taken right after graduation; right after James had proposed.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*FLASH BACK*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Umm Lily, could I have a word?"
"Sure James." They walked outside into the Entrance Hall. She had her back to him. "What's this about?" She turned around, and James was down on one knee, holding out a velvet emerald green box, with a ring with a flower made of emeralds and a ruby on it.
"Lily, beautiful Lily Evans. Over the years I have grown to love you with all my heart. Over this past year, I have grown to love you with all my soul, with all my being. I never thought I could love someone as much as I love you. I know that without you, I would be lost. It would be selfish of me to ask anything more of you, but I can't help but hope that you will answer yes to my next question. Lily, would you be my Lily, and make me the happiest man alive, by marrying me?"
"Oh my god, yes of course I'll marry you! I love you James Potter!" She flew into his arms.
Then, Lilac and Sirius walked out into the Entrance Hall, looking for Lily and James. They found them, in the middle of a passionate kiss.
Sirius cleared his throat, and James and Lily jumped apart. Lilac pulled out her camera and snapped a picture. James and Lily both had grins on their faces.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*END FLASHBACK*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Lily smiled at the picture. She placed it on her nightstand right next to her wedding picture.
Another item that caught Lily's attention was a shirt. She picked it up and looked it over. It was James' old Quidditch shirt. Lily held it up to her face, and inhaled James' scent, which still lingered on it.
Still, she pawed through, looking for more pieces of her old life. Finally she found a pair of pajamas; she put them on and went downstairs.
When she got into the beige living room, with the red play pen in the middle, she saw Harry playing with Godric and Salazar, Levana and Lupita, and Hermione. They were building little houses with their blocks. 'Amazing how well they get along together. You'd think they were biological siblings.' Lily thought to herself. She went over to the play-pen and picked her little Harry up.
"How's my little Harry?" She kissed his cheek, and he giggled. She carried him into the kitchen where the adults were. She put Harry into the high-chair that was next to the table. She plopped herself into the chair that was closest to the high-chair. She looked around; Remus and Maria were talking quietly with Genevieve. Lilac and Sirius were helping each other pour warm milk into cups. Gabriella had left; she had to get to work.
Lily went back to watching Harry. In one hand, he was holding onto his stuffed wolf, in the other was his stuffed stag. He absentmindedly started to chew on the stag's antler. Lily laughed.
That's when Witchy, jumped up onto the high-chair. She was a jet black cat, with a star-shaped patch of white fur. (She had been saved from the life of chasing mice and rats by Sirius and Remus, when they found her in what was once their friends' house.) Harry discarded the wolf, and started stroking Witchy. Witchy had a surprisingly good attitude towards Harry.
"Here Lils." Lilac set a cup of cocoa down in front of Lily, totally pulling her out of her thoughts.
"Thanks." She took a sip. "Mmm, good."
"Can I give you some advice?"
"Sure. Why not?"
"This is the same advice you gave me when my parents and my brother died. The best thing to do is to allow James to live on in your memory. Think of all your happy memories. We'll all share our favorite memories, try to get a laugh out of you, make you feel a little better. Okay?"
"What do I have to lose? Can't hurt can it?"
Everyone took a seat around the table. Maria was holding little Hermione, while Remus was trying to handle Levana and Lupita. They were about to drive him up a wall.
"Levana come here. Sit on Mummy's lap." Maria called. Levana came and sat on Maria's lap. Remus pulled Lupita into his lap, and handed her a cookie (to keep her subdued). Sirius and Lilac were each sporting a twin (Godric and Salazar).
Everyone was thinking of their favorite memory of James, trying to help Lily cope with her grief.
"I'll go first. My favorite memory of James was the day he met you, Lils." Said Lilac, chuckling. "When the four of us were in the boat crossing the lake. He wanted to get your attention…I guess he did. Remember? He shoved you into the lake."
"And you kinda kicked him where it hurts? And then he fell in after you?" added Sirius.
"Yep, and he said something about not wanting to have children anyway…."
"He did. Its amazing that my Little Harry here doesn't have horrible birth defects because of that." Said Lily, the twinkle started to come back to her eyes.
"My turn." Said Sirius. "My favorite memory was when; the two of you had been going out for almost six months, two months before graduation. He dragged me to Hogsmeade, and into all these jewelry shops. He was fretting about getting you the perfect ring."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*FLASHBACK*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
James and Sirius were running down the passage way that led from the one eyed witch's hump to Hogsmeade. It was dark, and the only light was that of two wands held in front of two boys making their way down the tunnel.
"Come on Padfoot! Hurry up! The shop's going to close in half an hour."
"James, I still don't see why we're rushing down to Hogsmeade, to buy Lily a ring. Have you told her you love her?"
"You know perfectly well that I have."
"Honestly, Prongs, why now?"
"Listen, Padfoot whether or not you agree that I should ask Lily to marry me or not, you should be behind me 100% no matter what. Now would you come?"
They had gotten out of the trap door, underneath the Honeydukes basement. They covered themselves in the invisibility cloak and left Honeydukes.
It was a cool early April night. The moon was waning, and there were millions upon millions of stars in the night sky. James and Sirius walked down High Street all the way to a little jeweler's shop.
They entered the small shop. They were amazed at the selection of jewels.
On the left, was a display of earrings. Some had diamonds, others rubies, or emeralds or pearls. Some were in the shape of flowers, others squares. Some were hoops, others had diamonds cascading down. There were: pink flowers, with a blue center, little amethyst hearts or squares, hanging diamonds, with a pearl at the end, diamond studs in platinum, gold or silver, gold swirl hoops, sapphires, with diamonds surrounding them, tear drop shaped rubies, 14k gold diamond accented hoops, marcasite chandelier earrings in sterling silver, and many others.
On the right was a display of necklaces. Some had little flower pendants, encrusted with rubies, or diamonds, or emeralds. There were also: rubies and diamonds set in white gold, pink tourmaline in 14k white gold, a gold chain with a pink topaz and diamond heart slide, multistone necklaces shaped like strings of flowers, a silver chain with amethyst, pink topaz and diamonds shaped into a heart pendant, a cultured freshwater pearl and diamond necklace in 14k white gold, and a necklace with a simple locket on it.
In the middle, more towards the right were bracelets. There were in such abundance that it was scary. There were: a half carat diamond bracelet, 14k gold a two tone heart, tanzanite and diamond in white gold bracelets, a multistone flower chain bracelet, a star/heart 14k white gold bracelet, amethyst in sterling silver bracelet, and so many others…
In the middle, closer to the left were whole sets of jewelry. There was a set of ruby encrusted jewels, one of emeralds, one of diamonds, and one of amethyst.
Smack dab in the middle, were the rings. There were hundreds of them. James and Sirius went to look at them. A young woman came out from the back room. "May I help you?" she asked.
"Yes, thank you. I need a ring for my girlfriend.-" started James.
"Say no more, sir. We're bound to have the perfect ring. Tell me a bit about her personality."
"Well, she's-there is only one word to describe her; perfect.-"
"She has red hair, emerald eyes, very smart, and plans to be an Auror. Does that help?" asked Sirius.
"Yes that does. How about this one?" the woman asked as she took out a lovely ring with a pearl, encrusted with diamonds.
"Nope, she doesn't like pearls; she doesn't like anything that hurt an animal to get."
"What about this one?" she took out a ring with diamonds set in rose and white gold.
"Don't think so." Said James apologetically.
"You said she has emerald eyes, and red hair, right?" she said, while taking out a gold ring with a flower on it. The flower's petals were made of emeralds, while the stone on the inside was a ruby.
"Yes, she has red hair and green eyes." As soon as James saw the ring he exclaimed "That's perfect! How much?"
"32 galleons, 5 sickles, and 4 knuts."
James handed over the money, to the woman and she put the ring in a little emerald velvet ring box.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*END FLASHBACK*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"I didn't know he went to so much trouble for this ring!" Lily said, showing the ring to everyone, even though everyone had seen the ring at least a dozen times.
"My turn," said Remus, "My favorite memory is along what you just said Padfoot, when James helped me pick out an engagement ring for Maria." He smiled at his wife, and kissed her check.
"I guess it's my turn." Said Maria thoughtfully. "I guess my beloved memory of James was when he serenaded you, in front of the whole school. You should have seen your face!"
"My favorite memory was when we went Seeker Seeking." Started Genevieve. "Your turn Lils,"
"Well, if I had to choose, my favorite memory would be the day Harry was born." Lily said. "When we were in the hospital room, just the three of us. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, with his arm around my shoulder, and I was holding Harry in my left arm. James was whispering how sweet nothings in my ear, nuzzling my neck, and kissing my cheek."
Tears started to form in Lily's eyes. Her throat started to close up. The tears spilled over the edge. "I'm sorry." She said as she fled the room, clutching Harry in her arms.
She brought Harry up to their room. She set him down in the crib, with his stag, wolf, dog, and lion. She then sat on her bed and picked up the picture that was taken at her wedding. She stroked the photographic James. "How could you leave me? Why did you have to leave me? What about Harry? How will I raise him without you? You didn't even let me say good bye."
She looked over at Harry, and was glad to see that he was asleep. She lay down under the blankets and fell asleep, holding onto the picture.
A/N: so sad… I love this fic. Don't worry, big stuff soon. What did you think of the ring? I think its beautiful. As I designed it…
If you have any questions, comments, ideas, or whatever just let me know, and please review!
Lilykins: don't worry, I will continue, got plenty of ideas…
Nadia Greenleaf: Lily will not go crazy in this story, well, at least not in my opinion…for the most part of the story she will be depressed, except of course for the end…Godric and Salazar Black are Lilac and Sirius' twin boys…unfortunately they don't take after their father, they actually don't even know him.
Goldfish r yummy: I agree. Goldfish are yummy. Thanks
Ganymade: thanks, I think…did you like that detail? Let me know please.
Magik Chick: thanks…